Pgi9 life span

[palombian]

Thanks Hat

I forgot to mention I shake the ink bottles (will remember to do the cartridges).
And in fact I remove, reset and refill cartridge by cartridge, this does not take considerably more time than take a the box, open it, cut the plastic bag and remove the clip of a new cartridge.

I plan to fill a spare set, but since I am still with my 50ml startup package I do not risk to spill my last ink in cartridges I can't use afterwards.
Even do no not dare to suck the ink out for reuse.

But from my latest "MX7600 banding" experience I may conclude that the print heads and the ink are OK and that the cartridge is the reason.

 

[The Hat]

The only way to know for sure would be to buy another cart (Expensive) and try that, or suck the ink out of your current cart and try giving it another clean, the only problem I see is not been able to flush the cart with ink to make sure it’s completely clear of any residue that’s all.

I found that buying small amount of bulk ink is not a great money saver, because you have to pay for P&P for the package anyway, the 120 ml or the 240 ml bottles are better value depending on where you buy, bigger is usually cheaper..

 

[palombian]

I did a cleaning job on yellow and magenta cartridges.
The yellows are OK, but all the 3 cartridges I filled with magenta have the same problem (regular small bands and smearing over the border of the square).

Must be the magenta ink bottle.

I planned to order a set of 125ml bottles, hope this helps.

 

[rodbam]

I've just had a look at the two magenta carts I flushed out which are not working properly now & as Palombian said the surface structure has changed, there's no longer the little squares or dimple pattern in the flushed carts sponges as there is in the unflushed or OEM carts. I wonder if this has any bearing on my problems.

 

[palombian]

I think it is too early to suspect the color magenta, and certainly the condition of the sponge is important, but I see no link.

As said, I cleaned yellow and magenta cartridges (to get some practice, it is indeed an amazing type of cartridge).
One of the yellows, after resting filled for 2 weeks, is fully functional again, and the sponge looks better too.
The magentas, even brand new ones with a good looking sponge, do not print correctly.
Since I transferred the same ink between these cartridges several times, this ink must have been contaminated.
A new cartridge solved the problem.
Since new OEM PGI-9 cartridges can be had (in Europe) for less than 10 EUR incl VAT, IMO this is the best solution in case of doubt.
From my own limited experience, and confirmed by others, OEM and I.S. ink can be mixed as you like, no worries.

 

[The Hat]

Another way to test out your magenta ink is to swap over a cartridge if you have any spare ones or just swap the yellow for the magenta and the magenta for the yellow plus chips that should give you a good indication as to how both inks and cartridges are performing.

Your test prints look pretty good one more so that the other, so could you try and clean the timing strip (both side), this is a plastic strip that has little markings on it and it runs from one side of the printer through the print head and connects to the other side, Alcohol is a good cleaner to use.

I have a dozen or so retired cartridges (Dumped) and I can see just one of them has a flat sponge surface so maybe there is something to this that we're missing, and it’s not caused by the sponge been left to dry out or abuse because mine get a lot of that..

 

[palombian]

Timing strip has been cleaned, this cause is eliminated.
Proof is that a brand new OEM magenta cartridge printed flawlessly (I could not believe my eyes), this together with I.S. ink in the other colours.

As Hat suggested I already converted a photo magenta cartridge (with a bad chip) to magenta (Canon makes really convenient stickers).
BUT I filled it with ink sucked out from one of the bad cartridges.
It showed the same error.

Obviously the illness is transmitted by the ink in the cartridges.
The cartridges I cleaned were contaminated by other colours bleeding through the printhead because I lost the purge pad and tried to replace it by another material.
Very bad idea, in the mean time I dismantled the printer and found the purge pad back .

Probably something was left in the cartridges or in my tools that changed the ink.
I am still amazed how this is possible, it must have become another liquid (my scans are not good enough to show this).

I will place the bad magenta's in quarantaine, clean them thorougly an start with fresh ink.
Also discarded the syringes.

Refilling is really a sport.

 

[The Hat]

That’s why when cleaning any cartridges it’s very important to make sure you have removed all contaminants from inside the cartridge so it can’t then react with the ink and spoil it, that goes double for pigment inks..